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THE i*^'*' 

WORKEK5 



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JOHN -HEN K.Y 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



THE 

WORKER'S 

WEAPON 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 

Suggestive Outline Bible Studies 

Notes and Suggestions for Bible Readings 

Teaching Outlines for Workers' Training Classes 

etc. 




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The 

Worker's 

Weapon 



ITS 

PERFECTION 

AUTHORITY 

STUDY 

AND USE 



By JOHN HENRY ELLIOTT 







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1 


FLEMING 


H. 


REVELL COMPANY 


NEW YORK 






PUBLISHERS 


CHICAGO 




OF EVANGELICAL 


TORONTO 






LITERATURE 



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Copyright 

1894 

Fleming H. Revell Company 






INTRODUCTION 



In these days, when the old Book, 
which is the ''sword of the Spirit,'' is 
being attacked on every side, it is re- 
freshing to lay hold upon a book such 
as these words introduce. The author 
is not a stranger to the young people 
who love to study God's Word. He 
has been a leader of young men for 
more than a decade of years, and in all 
that time has proved himself a '' work- 
man that needeth not to be ashamed." 
He knows men well, but he knows his 
Bible better. 



INTRODUCTION 

The following pages are the out- 
growth of his special study and labor 
as an evangelist during the past year. 
All would be better workers, and all 
would be better able to handle the 
"' Spirit's sword/* if this book should be 
prayerfully studied. It is my great 
pleasure to give both it and its author 
my heartiest God-speed, and most fer- 
vent prayer for its wide circulation. 

J. Wilbur Chapman. 

Albany, N. Y., July 27, 1894. 



CONTENTS 

CAP. PAGE 

1. The Worker's Weapon: Its Perfec- 

tion II 

2. The Worker's Weapon Its Authority. 35 

3. The Worker's Weapon : Its Study 57 

4. The Worker's Weapon : Its Use 81 



^^ Blessed are they that are perfect in the way, 
who walk in the law of the Lord,'' — Psalm cxix. i 
(R.V.). 



THE ITS 

WORKER'S PERFECTION 

WEAPON 



'' The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth 
understanding unto the simple/^ — Psalm cxix. 130. 



10 




Cap I 



ITS 
PERFECTION 



** The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the 
soul : the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise 
the simple : the statutes of the Lord are right, re- 
joicing the heart : the commandment of the Lord is 
pure, enlightening the eyes." — Psalm xix. 7-8. 

^T^HE word '' law," as used in this in- 
^ stance, may be taken to mean the 
same as the word *' doctrine*' or ''teach- 
ing,'* as used elsewhere. The claim or 
statement here made is a broad and 
conclusive one : '' The law of the Lord 
is perfect.*' No explanation is offered 
or argument used. The writer simply 
11 



THE IVORKER'S WEAPON 

states the fact, and therefore makes no 
apology and offers no proof. We little 
question its absolute truth, as applied to 
the New Testament Scriptures; but if 
it is to be taken as meaning what the 
words suggest, it must be that its truth 
applies to all God's law, doctrine, or 
teaching. Whether through prophets, 
singers, apostles, or his own Son, this 
collection of teachings, then, is more 
than a mere book, a human book, or 
even a divine book. A book it may 
be in convenience ; it is, nevertheless, a 
library in breadth and importance — the 
perfect Word of God in authority, 
throwing light on the path of history, 
and making plain the way of life. Not 
a single vital principle of godliness is 
omitted, but in one form or another 
the law of the Lord reveals and pro- 
12 



ITS PERFECTION 

claims, explains and enforces every 
needed truth. It will be helpful, then, 
to dwell for a little time on : 

First, The Perfection of its Unity. 

Over forty writers were engaged for 
about fourteen hundred years in giving 
to the world these teachings. They 
lived in different countries, used various 
languages, and employed many methods, 
but the result of their work is one — a 
unit ; so that in this collection of teach- 
ings we find many writers, but one Au- 
thor ; many writings, but one Book. All 
these teachings have one central truth : 
'' The Lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world." No wonder that else- 
where the Psalmist breaks forth into 
these words : '* Thou hast magnified thy 
word above all thy name.'' Surely it 
is a magnificent book, translated into 
13 



THE U/ORKER'S IVEAPON 

nearly four hundred tongues, or fifty 
more than any other book in the world. 
The only book approaching it in this 
regard is the *' Pilgrim's Progress/* and 
one has not far to look for the reason, 
since the book referred to is made up 
almost wholly of direct and indirect 
quotations from the Word of God. As 
one has said : '' This Bible of ours has 
been ' exploded * a great many times, 
and yet the particles of it always seem to 
come together again in the form of more 
Bibles. It has been * blown up ' only 
to alight on all-fours and run through 
the earth faster than ever. It has been 
upset only to prove it a solid cube, pre- 
senting the same strength and size as be- 
fore.'' Indeed, it is very like the Irish- 
man's fence of which the story tells us : 
An Irishman was found down in 
14 



ITS PERFECTION 

Kentucky building a fence four feet 
high and four feet thick. Some one 
asked him why he was wasting so much 
good material in thus building a fence. 
He replied : '' Sure, because if the wind 
blows it ovei it will be just as high as it 
was before.*' And so I am not at all dis- 
turbed at the fierce criticisms to which 
this collection of teachings has been 
subjected. Nothing can affect its real 
unity or disturb its soHdity. We are 
often told that it is old-fashioned and 
out of date to admit the perfection of 
these teachings and their complete 
unity. Out of date because old ? This 
does not follow of necessity. Some of 
the oldest things are the most stable. 
The old sun may be very ancient, but 
is, nevertheless, stable and secure. No 
matter how men may theorize about it, 
15 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 



1 



or the blind man disbelieve in its exis- 
tence, it nevertheless shines on, giving 
warmth, light, and life to all. 

Second, The Perfection of its Adap- 
tation to Htima7i Needs, 

This collection of teachings is suited 
alike to rich and poor, to the learned 
and unlearned. When I was in Sara- 
toga, a friend gave me an incident which 
aptly illustrates this truth : 

In my friend's early ministry, a col- 
ored boy who had given considerable 
trouble in the Sunday-school was hap- 
pily converted to Christ. Shortly after, 
in a meeting of young people for thanks- 
giving and testimony, this same colored 
boy arose in his place, opened a large- 
sized Bible, and slowly and carefully 
turned to Genesis, first chapter, first 
verse, and began to read in a very hesi- 
16 



ITS PERFECTION 

tating fashion, as if it was exceedingly 
difficult for him to spell out and pro- 
nounce the words: ''In — the — begin- 
ning— God — created — the — heaven — 
and — the — earth. And — the— earth — 
was — without — form, and — void ; and 
— darkness — was — upon — the — face — 
of — the — deep. And — the — Spirit — of 
— God — moved — upon — the — face — of 
— the — waters. And — God — said. Let 
— there — be — light : and — there — was 
— light.'* Then closing the Book very 
deHberately, he said: ''That's it! I 
was in darkness, but God spoke, and 
there was light." This boy, in his hon- 
esty, after having given his heart to 
Christ, had evidently intended to under- 
take to read the Bible through, but as 
soon as he came to this passage a flood 
of light shone in upon him, by the 
17 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

teaching of the Holy Spirit, and he saw 
a great truth. 

It may be very well for the scholar in 
his study, for the learned man in his 
laboratory, to dream of methods for ele- 
vating the human race ; but when one 
comes in close contact with illiterate, 
ignorant men, what shall he carry to 
them? 

Suppose I go to a company of labor- 
ing-men with a copy of the most ap- 
proved volume of ethics under my arm. 
Do you suppose that Patrick, leaning 
on his shovel, would listen very long to 
my reading a ponderous chapter from 
the book ? I imagine he would look at 
me in utter amazement, and possibly 
say, ''Well, what does it all mean?" 
But suppose, instead, I go to him with 
the old Bible, and read to him the 
18 



ITS PERFECTION 

words, '' For God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life/' 
Do you not know that, somehow or 
other, that truth would fit itself into his 
needs, and he would be apt to say, as 
in actual experience I know it has often 
happened, '' Read it over again : that is 
what I want to know about ' ' ? Then, too, 
the greatest men have had the deeper 
longings of their intellectual desires sat- 
isfied in this collection of teachings as 
in no other. It is said of Dr. Kennicott, 
whose learning is unquestioned, and who 
spent thirty years in collating the Old 
Testament Scriptures, on the morning 
after he had finished his task, when his 
wife asked the question : *' Now, doctor, 
that your great task is ended, what shall 
19 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

we read for recreation?'' after hesitat- 
ing for a moment, he answered : '' Wife, 
let us begin on the Bible/' Yes, it is 
indeed suited alike to old and young, 
rich and poor, learned and unlearned, 
and meets the needs of the human soul, 
not only in its intellectual outreaching, 
but in its devotional and recreative 
moods as well. 

Third, The Perfection of its Teach- 
ings, 

So simple and yet so profound, the 
teachings of this Book command atten- 
tion at once. It states the truth as a 
fact. It is nowhere apologetic or vacil- 
lating. The most stupendous truths 
are given without argument or proof 
to estabhsh their veracity or author- 
ity. ''It is written" is enough. We 
could have no better illustration of this 
20 



ITS PERFECTION 

than in the temptation of our Lord, 
where, in meeting the great adversary 
on the Mount, four times over he ap- 
pealed ** to the law and testimony *' in 
these words : '' It is written,*' or '' It is 
written again/' This is surely the se- 
cret of his speaking '' as one having 
authority, and not as the scribes/' De- 
spite the caviling of critics or the objec- 
tions of skeptics, or even the indifferent 
position too often of its professed friends, 
the Word of God nevertheless demon- 
strates in actual use the perfection of its 
teaching concerning those things about 
which men are most completely at sea. 
A young man with no very great 
learning or ability, but with an earnest 
desire to help his fellow-men, engaged 
in conversation with a commercial trav- 
eler on a railroad train. And as soon 
21 



THE IVORKER'S ^VEAPON 

as this man found out he was a Chris- 
tian, he put to him this question : *' Are 
you a minister of the gospel?" The 
young man answered : '' No, sir/' ''You 
are one of these Y. M. C. A. fellows, 
then, are you not?'' he asked. And 
the young man replied : '' Yes, sir, I 
am." The commercial traveler contin- 
ued : '' I have often desired to ask some 
of you ministers or Y. M. C. A. men a 
question or two. Have you any objec- 
tion to my asking you ? " The young 
man replied : '' I have no objection 
whatever. All I ask is that you will 
not be put out with me if I am unable 
to satisfactorily answer your questions." 
'' Do you believe that Jesus Christ is di- 
vine, and equal with God the Father?" 
said the commercial traveler. This was 
a difficult question for the young man 
22 



ITS PERFECTION 

to answer ; but taking a small Bible out 
of his pocket, he turned at once to the 
first chapter of John's Gospel, and read 
from the first to the third verses, and 
said : ** Yes, sir, this refers to Jesus 
Christ and states distinctly that he was 
divine, and equal with the Father even in 
creation. I believe it, because it is God's 
testimony/' Looking him squarely in 
the face for a moment or two, the com- 
mercial traveler said : '' Well, sir, there 
is no argument about that." '' Oh, no,*' 
repHed the young man ; '' argument is 
unnecessary. It is the simple statement 
of God's Word, and I beHeve it. And 
what is more, I am satisfied from per- 
sonal experience that it is true." After 
a pause he said to the young man : " Do 
you know anything about astronomy?" 
And the young fellow said at once: 
23 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

'' Very little ; I know something about 
it." '' Then you know there are worlds 
on worlds besides ours, and that some of 
them may possibly be inhabited/' The 
young man deemed this a possibility. 
Then said the commercial traveler : '' Do 
you really believe, with this in view, that 
God would send his only begotten Son 
down into this world of ours to save a 
few — a handful of sinners ? '' Again the 
young man turned to his Bible, and after 
reading John iii. i6, said: ''I certainly 
do, for it is the distinct statement of 
Jesus Christ himself, and I believe his 
testimony.'' 

This may seem to some of our learned 
friends as a very insignificant method 
of meeting a man who had given a great 
deal of thought to these serious ques- 
tions, as he regarded them ; but under 
24 



ITS PERFECTION 

the blessing of the Spirit it was used 
in turning this man's attention to the 
things of God ; and the worker had the 
joyful assurance of some day, through 
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
meeting this man face to face in the 
kingdom of God. 

Let us now notice some of the sug- 
gestions of the text, as to the fourfold 
action of this wonderful and perfect law 
of God in its contact with individuals. 

I. '' Converting the souV (verse 7). 

This law not only condemns, but con- 
verts. It is a great comfort that over 
against the condemnation of the law of 
God there is always placed the com- 
forting assurance of pardon through 
the gift of Jesus Christ. As illustrating 
this, take one statement which is but a 
sample of hundreds of others : '* For 
25 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of 
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ 
our Lord/' What a blessed thing it 
is that when the worker goes with his 
weapon — the law of God — he not only 
has that which will teach men the enor- 
mity of sin and the consequences thereof, 
but at the same time the remedy for sin, 
and the blessedness of appropriating it ! 

2. '' Makhig wise the simple'' (verse 7). 

What a wonderful educator is the 
Lord's sure testimony! This is the 
true culture for civilization, and the 
true instruction for simple souls who 
want to honor the Master in aggressive 
service. 

I once knew a Scotch sailor who was 

converted to Christ while attempting 

to repair the steeple of a church. In 

some way or other the scaffolding gave 

26 



ITS PERFECTION 

f ■ 

way and he was precipitated into a posi- 
tion where he was unable to extricate 
himself. Expecting every moment to 
be dashed to death, he was led to has- 
tily review his life, and, turning his 
face Godward, to give himself at once 
into the care of a merciful, patient, 
and sin-pardoning God. By almost a 
miracle he was rescued, and began at 
once a study of the English Bible. He 
was a simple soul in many respects, 
and, while lacking the advantages of an 
early education, he made rapid progress 
in acquiring a knowledge of spiritual 
things; so that after a while he gave 
such evidence of genuine ability that 
the presbytery could not refuse to lay 
their hands upon him in ordination. 
One incident in his life illustrates his 
use of the Word of God. During a 
27 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

series of revival meetings in a certain 
city, a couple of bright college students, 
who were spending their vacation in 
the city, came into one of the meetings 
and remained to the after-meeting. A 
bright, finely educated young minister 
met them and sought to deal with them. 
He was familiar with their position and 
tried to answer their questions with 
philosophical arguments, but without 
avail. After trying on one or two occa- 
sions to meet them, he gave the matter 
up in discouragement. I saw my little 
Scotch friend go to them, and when 
they began to bring forth their special 
difficulties he simply opened his Bible 
and said, '^ I don't understand these 
things very well, but I do know what 
the Word of God teaches.'' So, an- 
swering their questions in this way, this 
28 



ITS PERFECTION 

simple soul was enabled to lead them 
both to the feet of the Saviour; and 
in a very few minutes I saw all three of 
them kneel together, and afterward had 
the joy of knowing that these two young 
men had given their lives to Christ. 

3. *' Rejoicing the heart '* (verse 8). 

There is no joy except along the lines 
of right living. Many have a superficial 
happiness, but no real joy. And I be- 
lieve the Psalmist must have had this 
idea in mind, under the direction of the 
Spirit, when in the One Hundred clnd 
Nineteenth Psalm, 165th verse, he gave 
expression to this thought: *' Great 
peace have they who love thy law : and 
nothing shall offend them.'* This is 
the secret of the rejoicing heart. How 
often the indwelling Spirit brings back 
some of the statutes of the Lord, com- 
29 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

mitted to memory in childhood, to the 
hearts of the aged, so bringing joy ! 
4. '* Enlightenmg the eyes'' 
Do you want right views of Hfe? 
Look at it from God's standpoint. How 
often people say, '' I cannot realize I am 
such a sinner 'M The only method to 
surely do this is to use God's mirror. 
This is the illustration used in the Epistle 
of James, chapter i., verse 25 : '' Whoso 
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, 
and continueth therein, he being not a 
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, 
this man shall be blessed in his deed." 
So long as Job looked at his condi- 
tion through human eyes he tried to 
justify himself; but, at the last, he 
says : '' Therefore have I uttered that I 
understood not; things too wonderful 
for me, which I knew not. Hear, I 
30 



ITS PERFECTION - 

beseech thee, and I will speak : I will 
demand of thee, and declare thou unto 
me. I have heard of thee by the hear- 
ing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth 
thee : wherefore I abhor myself, and 
repent in dust and ashes/' Oh for 
spiritual enlightenment! Not temporal 
help, but opened eyes, is what the 
world needs to-day. As in the case of 
Bartimeus, what men need is not silver 
but sight. 



31 



4 



THE ITS 

WORKER'S AUTHORITY 

WEAPON 



33 



^^ Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy 
name/' — Psalm cxxxviii. 2. 

^^ Holding fast the faithful word." — Titus i. 9. 



34 



Cap II 



ITS 
A UTHORITY 



'' When Jesus had ended these sayings, the people 
were astonished at his doctrine : for he taught them 
as one having authority, and not as the scribes." — 
Matt. vii. 28, 29. 

'THHE divine authority of the New 
^ Testament Scriptures is generally 
admitted. Some question this matter 
of authority in connection with the Old 
Testament. Many who put an interro- 
gation-point after much in both the Old 
and New Testament nevertheless take 
the Sermon on the Mount as authentic, 
35 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

without stopping to consider that this 
discourse of our Lord's is full of Old 
Testament truth. The Beatitudes are 
founded on thoughts taken from the 
Psalms, and the teachings which follow 
cover a large field of truth in the 
prophets and the Psalms. I suppose 
one reason why it is said '' they were 
astonished'' at the teachings of Jesus 
is because, as the original, divine law- 
giver and expounder, he was speaking 
as one declaring facts. However, there 
is a contrast indicated here which it is 
well for us to notice : '' He taught them 
as one having authority, and not as the 
scribes.*' It was the business of the 
scribes to expound the law; but I 
imagine that it had grown to be a mere 
perfunctory matter with them — so much 
so, indeed, that they had come to attach 
36 



ITS AUTHORITY 

quite as great importance to the tradi- 
tions of the elders as to the definite, 
clear statements of Scripture. Very 
likely they had drifted into the habit 
that some of our modern teachers seem 
to have adopted, of giving the views of 
three or four of the learned rabbis and 
leaving the people to decide which was 
correct. I believe that this is always a 
dangerous and misleading method. It 
is well illustrated by the advice given a 
young man by an old colored mammy 
on one of the Southern plantations. He 
desired to find a short cut to another 
plantation, and so asked her to direct 
him to the path that would lead to 
Colonel Jones's plantation. She said : 
'' You follow dis path befo* you, and by 
and by you will come to the old black 
hen's nest." But he said: ''I don't 
37 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

know where the old black hen's nest 
is." ''Don't you see that large bush 
yonder?" she answered. ''That's it, 
and right back of it you will find a 
high fence. On the yuther side of the 
fence you will find three paths ; and if 
you take the wrong one you'll wish you 
hadn't." Then she turned away and 
left the young man to decide for himself 
which one of the three paths was the cor- 
rect one. It seems to me that much of 
the modern style of teaching, where the 
views of two or three learned professors 
are given, all of them perhaps interest- 
ing and good so far as they go, without 
any indication on the part of the teacher 
as to which is correct, is puzzling, if not 
misleading. 

A settled conviction of the divine 
authority of the Word of God is nec- 
38 



ITS AUTHORITY 

essary to three things : first, for assur- 
ance of personal salvation ; second, for 
growth in grace and in the knowledge of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and 
third, for power and efficiency in service. 
That this Word had one Author, no mat- 
ter how many writers may have been 
employed, I believe to be true; and 
that this Author was divine seems plain 
to the simple-hearted ordinary Bible 
student. 

I desire to present simply a single line 
of evidence, and that internal. There 
is plenty of external evidence, but this 
I will pass over for the present. The 
supreme authority of the Word of God 
rests on its divine authorship, and this 
is attested : 

First, By the direct claims of the 
writers in New Testament times. 
39 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

In 2 Peter i. 20, 21 (R. V.) I read this 
statement : '' Knowing this first, that no 
prophecy of Scripture is of private inter- 
pretation. For no prophecy ever came 
by the will of man : but men spake from 
God, being moved by the Holy Ghost." 
This seems to be of first importance. 
And it is well for us to notice carefully 
that the claim is made that they '' spake 
from God," and this is one of the sim- 
plest definitions of inspiration the Bible 
student can by any means find. 

2 Timothy iii. 16, 17 (R. V.) reads: 
''All Scripture [or every Scripture] , given 
by inspiration of God, is profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness : that the 
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
furnished unto all good works." 

Hebrews i. i, 2 (R. V.) reads: '' God, 
40 



|i 



ITS AUTHORITY 

having of old time spoken unto the 
fathers in the prophets, hath at the end 
of these days spoken unto us in his 
Son/' So that, according to the claim of 
this New Testament writer, the prophets 
spoke with as large authority as did the 
Son of God himself. This is very im- 
portant. 

1 Peter i. lo, ii reads: ''Of which 
salvation the prophets have inquired 
and searched diligently, who prophesied 
of the grace that should come unto you : 
searching what, or what manner of time 
the Spirit of Christ which was in them 
did signify, when he testified beforehand 
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory 
which should follow." Here again the 
truth seems to be very plain that the 
prophets themselves did not fully under- 
stand the revelation which they were 
41 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

making, and therefore they spake from 
God and not of themselves. This is 
further emphasized in another Scrip- 
ture : 

I Thessalonians ii. 13 (R. V.): ''And 
for this cause we also thank God, that 
when ye received from us the word of 
the message, even the word of God, ye 
accepted it not as the word of men, 
but, as it is in truth, the word of God, 
which also worketh in you that believe.*' 

The early church evidently had no 
difficulty about authorship, and there- 
fore no question about authority. The 
writers of the New Testament nowhere 
try to prove inspiration. They simply 
assume it as a fact. It is interesting to 
see how the early church expressed this. 

Acts i. 16 reads: ''Brethren, it was 
needful that the Scriptures should be 
42 



ITS .AUTHORITY 

fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spake 
before by the mouth of David con- 
cerning Judas." These faithful ones, 
gathered together waiting for the prom- 
ise of the Spirit, so quoted from the 
Forty- first Psalm and understood that 
it was the Holy Spirit speaking by the 
mouth of the Psalmist, rather than the 
poetical expression of the Psalmist. 

This same idea is elsewhere illus- 
trated, as for instance in Acts iv. 24, 25 : 
*' O Lord, thou that didst make the 
heaven and the earth ; who by the Holy 
Ghost by the mouth of our father David 
hast said, Why do the heathen rage, and 
the people imagine vain things? The 
kings of the earth stood up,'' etc. They 
quoted from the Second Psalm and 
clearly understood that it referred to 
the Messiah. They had a very satis- 
43 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

factory definition of inspiration : God 
speaking by the moicth of his servants. 

This same idea is illustrated again in 
Hebrews iii. 7 : '' Wherefore as the Holy- 
Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his 
voice," etc. The quotation is from the 
Ninety-fifth Psalm. 

As Christian workers we are apt to 
find many who, without looking into 
the claims of the Book itself, simply 
decide from hearsay or newspaper re- 
ports of addresses given by followers of 
the Higher Criticism that they do not 
believe in the Bible at all. 

In one of our meetings I met this sort 
of a young man. He had remained to 
the after-meeting, and when I sought 
to deal with him he at once said : '' But 
I don't believe in the Bible/' I said: 
*' What part of it don't you believe 
44 



ITS AUTHORITY 

in ? '* And he answered : *' None of it/' 
Then I said, in as kindly a way as I could 
summon (for I think we need to be very 
tender and sympathetic with just such 
cases as this) : '' Have you ever read 
the Bible through ? " He replied : '' No, 
sir." Then I said : '' Did you ever read 
the Old Testament through?'* And 
again he replied: ''No, sir/' Then I 
continued : '' Have you ever read the 
New Testament through?" Again he 
answered: ''No, sir." Then I said: 
" Did you ever read one book through ?" 
And he answered at once: "Yes, sir." 
"Which one?" I asked. "Well," he 
said, " I am not sure ; it was one of the 
Gospels." " How long since you read 
it?" And with a blush mantling his 
cheek, be it said to his credit, he 
answered: "About eight years ago." 
45 



THE JVORKER'S JVEAPON 

*' So/' I said, ''you went through one 
of the Gospels about eight years ago in 
Sunday-school, did you not?" ''Who 
told you that?" was his question. I 
said : " Never mind who told me ; it is a 
fact, is it not? " And he admitted that 
it was. " Now," I said, " surely you 
cannot recall very much in that book, 
can you, after eight years ? " And again 
he admitted that he could not. Look- 
ing him in the eye I said : " My friend, 
just think of your position. You started 
out by saying that you didn't believe in 
any part of the Bible, and you have now 
admitted to me that you know nothing 
about it whatever, except what you may 
have gleaned in a haphazard sort of 
fashion, eight years ago, while attend- 
ing Sunday-school. Now, is it fair to 
say that you don't believe in a thing 
46 



ITS AUTHORITY 

about which you know no more than 
you do about this ? Let me ask a favor 
of you. Will you promise me that you 
will never again look into the face of 
one of your fellow-men and tell him 
that you do not believe in the Bible 
until you have read it through, or at 
least part of it? Will you promise me 
that? " And in the most manly fashion 
he said: '' I will." This young fellow 
was a very interesting type of a large 
class of intelligent mechanics who get 
their theology mainly from the news- 
papers. About a month or two after- 
ward, in conducting a meeting, to my 
great delight I saw him in the audience, 
and hastening to him, at the close of the 
meeting, I extended my hand and gave 
him a cordial greeting. He at once 
asked if I remembered him. And hav- 
47 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

ing answered that I did, I asked : '' Do 
you remember your promise to me? 
Have you fulfilled it?" He answered: 
'' Yes, sir, in the main I have. A short 
time after our conversation together," 
he continued, '' I borrowed a New Tes- 
tament from the landlady at our board- 
ing-house, and on an afternoon when I 
was unable to work, on account of the 
condition of the weather, I read it al- 
most through, and later I finished the 
rest of it." '' What was the result? " I 
queried. Looking at me with a face in 
which the very light of heaven shone he 
said: *' You know, sir, what the result 
would be, as well as I do." Of course 
I did, and I feel sure that a great many 
persons who imagine themselves to be 
skeptical, having difficulties and doubts, 
could have them cured very speedily 
48 



• 



ITS AUTHORITY 

with a good old-fashioned dose of Bible. 
The divine authority of the Word is also 
attested, 

Second, By the direct testimony of 
the Son of God himself. 

The Son of God, from the beginning, 
one with the Father. Equal in authority 
with the Father himself. Surely he knew 
whether the Old Testament Scriptures 
were trustworthy and authoritative. He 
indorsed them fully — there is no ques- 
tion about this in my mind. In Luke 
xxiv. 44 I read : *' He said unto them. 
These are the words which I spake 
unto you, while I was yet with you, 
that all things must be fulfilled, which 
are written in the law of Moses, and in 
the prophets, and in the psalms, con- 
cerning me." Here the entire Old 
Testament is included, and upon its ve- 
49 



THE IVORKER'S U/EAPON 

racity and authority is made to depend 
the genuineness of his Messiahship and 
resurrection. Besides indorsing the en- 
tire Old Testament he refers to and puts 
the seal of his approval upon the genu- 
ineness of the very things that skeptics 
and critics stumble over in our day. 
Take just a few illustrations from Scrip- 
ture : 

Luke xvii. 26 : ''As it was in the days 
of Noah/' etc. So Jesus believed in the 
flood, and, without question, believed in 
it as universal. It is very interesting to 
know that in our day some of the fore- 
most scientists have discovered indubi- 
table proofs of the universality of the 
flood. Jesus put the stamp of his ap- 
proval on the story of Noah and the 
flood. 

In John lii. 14: ''As Moses lifted up 
50 



775 AUTHORITY 

the serpent in the wilderness/* etc. So 
Jesus believed in the genuineness of 
the story concerning the serpent-bitten 
Israelites and God's remedy for their 
malady. 

In Matthew xii. 40 : '' For as Jonah 
was three days and three nights in 
the whale's belly ; so shall the Son of 
man be three days and three nights in 
the heart of the earth." Then Jesus 
believed in the story given to us in 
the Book of Jonah. It is inconceivable 
that he would use a mere poetical fancy 
as illustrating the most stupendous fact 
of his own earthly career. Without 
doubt he intended to put the seal of his 
approval upon Jonah. 

In Luke xvii. 32: ''Remember Lot's 
wife." So Jesus believed in the his- 
torical accuracy of the account of the 
51 



THE IVORKER'S JVEAPON 

destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
and also the turning of Lot's wife into 
a pillar of salt. 

In Luke iv. 25, 26 we have the refer- 
ence to Elijah and the poor widow, and 
in Luke iv. 27 a reference to Naaman 
the Syrian, showing that Jesus believed 
in these things as historical verities. 
He used these and numerous other in- 
cidents, miraculous in their character, 
as historical facts. May we not safely 
do the same ? One reason the Word of 
God has so much power is because it is 
the Spirit's chosen weapon — having all 
the force and power that he can give 
it. I conclude, therefore, that what the 
Scriptures say, God says ; that what the 
Scriptures teach, God teaches. Hence 
it was w^ell said of the Son of God that 
''he taught as one having authority." 
52 



ITS AUTHORITY 

It was the Author expounding and un- 
folding his own work. It is the one 
who speaks that carries authority. 

A private in a certain engagement, 
seeing the wonderful opportunity before 
them for victory, said, so that he might 
be heard by several of his comrades ; 
''We ought to charge the left flank.'* 
But not a man moved. A moment or 
two later the general gave the command 
to do this very thing, and in the forward 
charge victory was won. As Christian 
workers we will do well to realize that 
we may use the Word of God even as 
our divine Master used it, with author- 
ity. When he speaks, his word is a 
word of power. 



53 



THE ITS 

WORKER'S STUDY 

WEAPON 



55 



I 



'' I have treasured up the words of his mouth 
more than my necessary food.' ^ — Job xxiii. 12. 



56 



Cap III 



ITS 
STUDY 



*' Give diligence to present thyself approved unto 
God ; a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
handling aright the word of truth." — 2 Tim. ii. 15 
(R.V.). 

'T^HE word '' diligence " here is trans- 
lated ''study" in the Authorized 
Version, and suggests at once a very- 
important thing. Study, then, means 
not simply reading, hearing expounded, 
or discussing the law of the Lord, but 
diligent digging after these deep truths 
— an earnest seeking for hidden treasure. 
57 



THE IVORKER'S JVEAPON 

The reading of the Word in a devotional 
way is a splendid exercise for any devout 
soul; hearing the Word expounded is 
certainly in accordance with God's plan ; 
and the discussion which sometimes 
arises in Bible-classes is not altogether 
without its value : but is there not dan- 
ger of falling into the very error which 
the Apostle Paul was trying to correct 
in writing this epistle to young Timo- 
thy, where in the second chapter, four- 
teenth verse, just preceding the text, 
he says : '' Charging them before the 
Lord that they strive not about words 
to no profit, but to the subverting of 
the hearers '' ? All of these things are 
good as far as they go, but they certainly 
can never take the place of real study. 
I believe they had the right sort of spirit 
and industry in the Berean church (Acts 
58 



ITS STUDY 

xvii. 1 1) : '* These were more noble than 
those in Thessalonica.'* And why ? Be- 
cause " they received the Word with all 
readiness of mind, and searched the 
Scriptures daily, whether those things 
were so '' ; or as one of the other trans- 
lations gives it, '' day by day examining 
well the Scriptures/' It is this day- 
by-day-examining-well method that is 
going to count. And this surely meant 
more than '^ my chapter daily.** So 
many people seem to suppose that read- 
ing their chapter daily is about all that 
can reasonably be expected of them 
outside of the church service or, at the 
best, the Bible-class room. But much 
of this daily chapter-reading is so hap- 
hazard and superficial as to accomplish 
but little. I am afraid that many of us 
do this about as the young man did his 



THE IVORKER'S WEAPON 

work when hoeing corn. He did the 
work so poorly that he was in the habit 
of setting up a stake at night so as to 
know where to begin in the morning. I 
fear that many who simply read their 
chapter daily would be much perplexed 
if they were to lose their book-mark. 

I desire in this address to suggest 
some practical methods of getting at the 
treasures of the Word. It is the '' how '* 
that seems to bother a great many. One 
of the very first things to do is to be- 
gin. Do not wait for a perfect method. 
Begin somewhere or somehow, and find 
your method or formulate your plan 
afterward. I would suggest : 

First, Form a habit of Bible-study; not 
alone for others^ bnt for personal growth 
as well 

A prominent business man in the city 
60 



ITS STUDY 

of Minneapolis, Minn., told me that after 
teaching a young men's Bible-class for 
a great many years he suddenly dis- 
covered that he had been spending all 
his time in preparation for that purpose 
alone, and had been starving his own 
soul by neglecting personal study of the 
Scriptures for himself. 

I noticed in a large hotel where I spent 
a few days one summer that the man- 
agement were in the habit of requiring 
all the waiters to be fed first before they 
served the guests. Is not this a good 
rule in spiritual things ? For those who 
would feed others should themselves first 
be fed. Make this thing a specialty un- 
til the habit is formed and fixed. You 
ask : '' Is there not danger of one be- 
coming a hobbyist ? " And I answer: 
'' I am not afraid of students who are 
61 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

hobbyists in the matter of diligently 
searching the old Book. But I am 
afraid of so-called teachers and talkers 
who are forever giving out but never 
taking in. " You remember the old prov- 
erb, *' Always taking out of the meal- 
tub, and never putting in, soon comes to 
the bottom. *' 

Let this habit be formed prayerful- 
ly. If any earnest effort needs prayer, 
this more. You remember the prayer 
in Psalms cxix. i8: ''Open thou mine 
eyes, that I may behold wondrous things 
out of thy law." This is especially a 
good motto for one's study or one's 
book-mark ; or, better still, to have con- 
stantly before one's mental vision. I 
imagine that as Jesus talked to the dis- 
ciples as recorded in Luke xxiv., while he 
unfolded to them all the things written 
62 



ITS STUDY 

concerning himself in the law of Moses 
and in the prophets and in the Psalms, 
their burning hearts must have ex- 
pressed this prayer in earnest desire, 
even if they did not give audible ex- 
pression to it in words. And I can im- 
agine that it was perhaps in answer to 
their unexpressed prayer that we read 
in the forty-fifth verse: ''Then opened 
he their understanding, that they might 
understand the Scriptures/' 

Then if this habit is to be fixed it 
will need much of patience and persis- 
tence. Over in Deuteronomy vi. 6-9 
we have given to us a hint of how God's 
ancient people were to fasten the law 
in their hearts and have it constantly 
before their lives. You will remember 
that they were told to have it in their 
hearts, and to teach it diligently unto 
63 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

their children. And I suppose the word 
diligently is used there much in the 
same sense as it is in the text. They 
were to talk of these things when they 
sat in the house, when they walked by 
the way, when they were lying down, 
and as they arose in the morning. And 
these words were to be bound as a sign 
upon their hands, and worn as frontlets 
between their eyes, and written on the 
posts of the house and on the gates. In 
other words, the habit was to be formed 
and fixed in their case by meditating on 
the law while they were sitting, walk- 
ing, lying down, rising up, morning or 
evening, anyhow, anyway, any time, and 
anywhere. I think one can have no 
better illustration of the right spirit and 
industry needed for this sort of thing 
than in the example given us by the 
64 



ITS STUDY 

industrious Apostle Paul. In Philip- 
pians iii. 8 he tells us that with him '' all 
was to be counted loss for the excel- 
lency of the knowledge of Christ.'* In 
the tenth to twelfth verses he gives us 
a glimpse of his earnest desire in this 
direction. If the habit is to be formed 
we must stick to it year in and year out. 
Go at it for life. Spend spare minutes, 
hours, days, weeks, and even months 
and years, over one passage, if need 
be. The chief hindrances to profitable 
Bible study that are generally encoun- 
tered may be briefly summed up in 
three words : indifference, indolence, 
and insincerity. Many are really not 
interested or are unwilling to pay 
the price. Others are willing enough 
to pay their money, but are not ready 
to do hard work. Others hesitate 
65 



THE IVORKER'S WEAPON 

because they don't want to live the 
truth. 

Second, Get the full scope of Bible 
trtith by studying in outline the whole 
Bible, 

For two purposes — for God's ap- 
proval and aggressive Christian work, 
as suggested by the text. Much of 
our scrappy, fragmentary study secures 
neither one nor the other. I doubt if 
any one will ever make any notable 
progress until he has mastered the great 
outHnes of scriptural truth. And this 
is not difficult if only one sets about it 
in dead earnest. When I was upon the 
road, and having but very little time 
for anything of the sort, I nevertheless 
managed to master pretty thoroughly 
the general contents of our English 
Bible. I began in the simplest possible 



ITS STUDY 

way, taking the table of the books in 
the front of the Bible, satisfying myself 
of the character of each, bringing them 
together in groups, and then fastening 
them in the memory. After a while I 
began to see that there was a great 
general purpose manifest in the entire 
collection of sixty-six volumes which 
for convenience we have bound up in 
what we call the Bible. I very soon 
saw that the Old Testament had to do 
with God the Father, the Gospels with 
God the Son, the Acts and the Epistles 
with God the Spirit. Then I began to 
discover that God had not dealt with the 
world in a haphazard fashion, but that 
after using one plan, which resulted in 
failure, he seemed to undertake another. 
For myself, I was very soon able to dis- 
cover what is commonly called dispen- 
67 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

sational truth, and I am quite sure it 
enabled me to handle the Word of 
Truth to much better advantage. Fol- 
lowing this, I found it very natural to 
desire to know the contents of the books, 
and later even to master the contents of 
chapters of books. And this is quite a 
possible thing. I know a traveling man 
who has mastered the contents of every 
chapter of from twenty to thirty or more 
of the sixty-six books, and is planning 
to master the remainder. Some such 
method as this marked out for yourself 
and persistently followed will greatly 
assist in handling aright the Word of 
Truth. 

Third, Study by sectio7ts, topics^ etc. 
The study of characters and biogra- 
phies is also very profitable. So much 
has been said concerning the study of 
68 



ITS STUDY 

topics that it needs scarcely to be em- 
phasized, yet we still find many who 
do not seem to understand how to go 
to work to do this very simple thing. 
Pardon another personal experience : I 
had been giving a series of addresses to 
Sunday-school teachers in one of the 
cities of Minnesota, and at the close of 
the series of addresses, as I was about 
to adjourn the meeting, a lady arose in 
the audience and asked if she might put 
a question. I said to her, '' Certainly.'* 
And then she asked : '' Will you kindly 
show us how to study a topic?'' I 
confess I felt a little mortified to think 
that after having given five addresses I 
had failed to make this plain. But I 
thought I saw her difficulty, and so I said 
at once : '' If you will all come and in- 
vite your friends a week hence, I shall be 
69 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

present, and we will study a topic that 
none of us has ever studied before." 
When the evening came the house was 
crowded full of people who were very 
desirous of seeing the thing actually 
accomplished. After the opening ex- 
ercises I called for topics. A number 
were suggested that some persons had 
already studied. But finally some one 
suggested ''The Church." I confess I 
had never studied that as a Bible topic 
before ; and I found no one else in the 
company had studied that same topic in 
that way, that is, as a Bible topic. Giv- 
ing a small concordance which I had 
brought with me to a young man on one 
side of the room, and a Bible text-book 
to a young lady on the other side, I said : 
''We will first look into the concordance, 
and there find all the texts of Scripture 
70 



ITS STUDY 

that contain the word ' church/ Any of 
them that we do not fully understand 
now we will lay aside for further study, 
and only take the passages that are 
plain." Turning to a large blackboard I 
wrote across the top of it, ''The Church/* 
Then I reserved the left-hand side for 
texts of Scripture, writing down the ref- 
erence, with catchwords sufficient to re- 
call the sense of the text. After putting 
down all the passages we were able to 
secure by the use of the concordance, 
I asked the young lady to turn to the 
topic " Church " in the Scripture text- 
book, and read to us all the texts ap- 
pearing on that topic. In this way we 
secured some texts that did not have the 
word '' church '' in them. We found, 
as a result, that with the use of the con- 
cordance and text-book we had some 
71 



THE IVORKER'S WEAPON 

twelve or fifteen texts of Scripture that 
were clear to us. I then wrote on the 
opposite side of the blackboard these 
questions: First, What is the Church? 
Second, Of whom is it composed? 
Third, What is its position and power 
in the world? Fourth, What is its fu- 
ture? Then I let the audience decide 
on where to place each text of Scrip- 
ture. In the end we had a very clear 
and satisfactory study of the Scriptures 
on this important topic. This is one 
method of studying a topic ; there are 
many others. But I am quite sure that 
it opened up to many at that time 
a method by which they could study 
the Word of God, not only to their own 
profit, but for profitable use with others. 
Then, study your Bible carefully, crit- 
ically. You may not know Hebrew or 
72 



ITS STUDY 

Greek, but you can use helps — a Re- 
vised Version and other ti'anslations ; 
Young's Concordance, with its Greek 
and Hebrew indexes ; Hudson's Critical 
Greek Concordance, and other books of 
like character. And while one may- 
have to spend very much more time 
over a given passage to discover its 
depth of meaning than if he were an 
accompHshed Greek or Hebrew stu- 
dent, he will nevertheless derive much 
of profit, and it will be time well spent. 
It is said that a very humble student of 
the Word many years ago went to one 
of our prominent teachers at the close 
of an address and said to him : *' I am 
convinced, sir, from my study of the 
Word, that the last clause of Romans 
viii. I does not belong there, but ought 
of right to be found at the end of the 
73 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

fourth verse/' and added: ^' I wish you 
would ask some of your learned friends 
who may be able to get access to the 
manuscripts whether this is not true." 
Upon investigation it was proved that 
this man's study had led him into a cor- 
rect position; and any one who will 
take the trouble to consult the Revised 
Version will find that the learned revi- 
sion committee indorsed this very hum- 
ble layman. 

Fourth, Some things to avoid. 

In your study do not try to prove a 
preconceived theory by detached scrip- 
tural references. I once found a com- 
pany of Mormon elders in a community 
trying to do this very thing. A young 
man who knew his Bible very soon 
put them to flight. As you know, one 
can prove, at least to his own satisfac- 
74 



ITS STUDY 

tion, almost any doctrine by using de- 
tached scriptural references. You have 
heard of the young man who told his 
grandmother that it was scriptural to 
commit suicide. I suppose when she 
offered him the Book he probably said, 
as this class of people generally do, *' I 
have no need of the Bible," and then 
added : '' Grandmother, does it not say 
somewhere in the Bible that Judas went 
out and hanged himself?" And of 
course the good old soul assented to 
this, but added : *' That does not prove 
anything." ''But, grandmother," said 
the young man, '' does it not say some- 
where else, ' Go thou and do likewise' ? " 
And he might have added the words, 
''What thou doest do quickly." 

Then, again, do not rest on any state- 
ment until you have carefully examined 
75 



THE IVORKER'S U^EAPON 

the teaching and context. i Corin- 
thians ii. 9 is a good illustration of this. 
How many persons have quoted the 
ninth verse and then settled back in a 
sort of happy tranquillity, with the feel- 
ing that it must of necessity be a blessed 
thing to be ignorant concerning the 
things of God ! While if they had read 
the tenth verse they must have under- 
stood at once that a different truth en- 
tirely was intended to be taught. 

And last of all, let me suggest this: 
Do not distort or ''wrest the Scriptures." 
Do not expect to make a passage teach 
what its plain expression nowhere else 
teaches, or what, in the main, the vol- 
ume of Bible testimony does not teach. 
I could not better illustrate this in clos- 
ing than by referring to the very hap- 
hazard way in which many otherwise 
76 



ITS STUDY 

careful students use the Word of God 
in reference to its teaching concerning 
the Jew, the Gentile, and the church, 
or the second coming of our Lord. 

Let me just drop this one word in 
closing : there is no possibility of buying 
up results of hard work on the part of 
others in the matter of Bible study. Its 
price is diligence for thyself. Hard work 
is the secret of successful Bible study 
and thorough Bible knowledge. 



77 



THE ITS 

WORKER'S USE 

WEAPON 



79 



'' Then shall I not he ashamed, when I have re- 
spect unto all thjf commandments/' — Psalm cxix. 6. 



80 



Cap IV 



ITS 
USE 



** The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of 
God."— Eph. vi. 17. 



M' 



^ANY Christian workers have a con- 
siderable knowledge of the Bible, 
but fail somehow to make practical use 
of it ; or, to use the figure suggested in 
the text, they have a sword and make 
a good appearance on dress-parade, but 
when they seek to wield it in close quar- 
ters it is either so rusted in its scabbard 
that they cannot make it effective, or 
they are unable to swing it with force and 
81 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

precision. To use the sword of the Spirit 
wisely and well one of the very first 
things necessary is that the worker 
should get a good grip of his weapon; 
and here, perhaps, is where the great- 
est difficulty comes, for it must be taken 
hold of point and blade first. We shall 
never be able to make it cut others until 
we have permitted it first to cut us. I 
think this was the principle hinted at by 
our Lord in Mark viii. 34, when he said : 
''Whosoever will come after me, let him 
deny himself, and take up his cross, and 
follow me." Unless there is first real 
self-denial, there can be no effective ser- 
vice. Let me present some suggestions 
concerning wise ways of wielding the 
worker's weapon : 

First, As tcsed upon ourselves for spir- 
itual life and spiritual grozvth. 
82 



ITS USE 

This is the divine order: first Hfe, 
then growth. Spiritual Hfe comes by 
the Spirit's use of the Word. See i 
Peter i. 23 : '' Being born again, not of 
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible; 
by the Word of God, which liveth and 
abideth forever.'^ This seems to clearly 
teach that the Word of God is the Spirit's 
instrument in regeneration. The Spirit 
is the agent, and the Word the instru- 
ment. 

Having life, the next thing is growth. 
There are at least two distinct stages of 
spiritual growth set forth in the Word 
of God. 

The first stage is by food, as in 
young childhood — i Peter ii. 2, 3 : "As 
new-born babes, desire the sincere milk 
of the Word, that ye may grow there- 
by: if so be that ye have tasted that 
83 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

the Lord is gracious.'* The figure used 
here is homely but exceedingly inter- 
esting and suggestive. This food is to 
be ''the sincere milk of the Word" — 
no milk-and-water mixture, but the gen- 
uine, old-fashioned country milk. When 
that young father and mother consulted 
their physician about the baby last sum- 
mer, he recommended that they take 
it to its grandmother's in the country. 
As soon as grandmother saw the baby 
she said, '' The trouble with that baby 
is, it is starving to death." When a 
little while afterward the baby took from 
her hands some of the good rich country 
milk, as it came warm from the mother 
cow, you could almost see the baby be- 
gin to grow. Oftentimes young Chris- 
tians, in order to grow, need to be fed 
simply with '' the sincere milk of the 
84 



ITS USE 

Word.'' Fathers and mothers who have 
had experience in the raising of young 
children understand very well the wis- 
dom of the use of this figure. At the 
first the young baby does not need to be 
set at work, but simply needs to grow by 
food. There will come a day when the 
life that is within will demand some- 
thing more than this, and there will be 
the second stage of growth, of which I 
shall speak presently. The young baby 
needs food provided for it at first in 
small quantities. Anything more than 
this is apt to produce disarrangement 
and indigestion. So beginners in the 
Christian life do not need to be thrust 
out at once into Christian work or taught 
at one sitting all that they need to know 
concerning the Word. It will not suffice 
to spend a week at some meeting for 
85 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

Bible study, or take a month^s course 
in some institute, for this is very apt 
to produce spiritual dyspepsia. They 
are unable to digest all the food that 
they get in such large quantities. They 
need, rather, food as the baby needs 
it, in small quantities, and often. I 
suppose that every young father at 
least has made the mistake of suppos- 
ing that a child might be filled up in 
the evening, and that this ought to last 
until morning. Generally experience 
has proved the unwisdom of such a 
course. Then, too, the food must be 
warm. Too often the Bible is used in a 
cold, perfunctory sort of fashion. Noth- 
ing can ever take the place of the warmth 
and life-giving presence of the Spirit. 
To study the Bible in cold blood is to 
receive it simply in an intellectual way. 
86 



ITS USE 

But real spiritual growth will come by 
dependence on the life-giving Spirit of 
God. I remember once my wife and 
myself were traveling east from Chi- 
cago. We met on the sleeper a young 
mother who had started out from Min- 
nesota for an eastern city with only a 
bottle of milk for her baby; and as 
this failed very soon after we left Chi- 
cago, she was in great distress as to how 
she might provide for the little one's 
needs. We were very happy to offer 
her a can of condensed milk. But a 
little while afterward you can imagine 
our dismay, for the porter in preparing 
it had used ice-water. This of course 
did not make a very palatable or satis- 
factory diet for the infant. But I im- 
agine it was about as appropriate and 
no colder than some of the so-called 
87 



THE IVORKER'S U^EAPON 

spiritual food that is provided for new- 
born babes in the spiritual life. 

The next stage of growth is by exer- 
cise, and corresponds with youth. This 
idea seems to be presented in i John ii. 
13, 14, and I think it gives us a hint as 
to how one may get strong and stay so 
spiritually. Again nature illustrates true 
spiritual growth. There comes a time 
in the child's life when it is content no 
longer to grow simply by food, but begins 
to desire to walk and exercise. Hence- 
forth sturdy growth can only come by 
a proper amount of vigorous exercise. 
The very life within demands it. To 
sum this all up, it seems to me the Spir- 
it's method of growth in the new-born 
soul may be put in these three words — 
life, food, and exercise. 

Second, As ttsed tipo/i others : 



ITS USE 

First, In public teaching and testi- 
mony. We are to use it as if we be- 
lieved it. Some one has illustrated this 
by the use of the figure in the text. 
Suppose you are using a sword in a 
hand-to-hand conflict, and suppose your 
enemy said, '' I don't believe the thing 
you have is a sword.'' How would you 
prove it ? Simply by using it upon him. 
So in the use of the sword of the Spirit. 
The best way after all to convince those 
who do not believe in its genuineness is 
not to try to prove that it is a sword, 
but simply to use it upon them. It will 
cut, therefore let us use it courageously. 
It is our business to use it; it is the 
Spirit's work to see that it cuts. 

In our public teaching I believe we 
are to follow Paul's example, i Corin- 
thians ii. I : speak God's testimony and 
89 



THE JVORKER'S PyEAPON 

witness to its truth ; or as the prophet 
taught, Isaiah Iv. 7-1 1 : teach God's 
Word and not our thoughts. Jeremiah 
xxiii. 25-32 indicates the difference be- 
tween God's thoughts and our thoughts. 
Nothing will so attract and hold as the 
simple Word of God honestly, faithfully, 
and lovingly presented. 

I knew a young Scotchman who was 
given a Sunday-school class in one of 
the missions in a western city and when 
he took hold of it he was not told that 
four or five other teachers had utterly 
failed before him. They had tried stories, 
picture-cards, and all the methods that 
are supposed to attract and hold a wide- 
awake class of street boys, but without 
success. When he took hold of it he 
simply began by interesting these same 
fellows in the English Bible, and in addi- 
90 



|! 



ITS USE 

tion to occupying their heads, after a 
few weeks succeeded in having in the 
hand of each one a Bible of his own. 
The result was, that at the end of the 
first quarter the superintendent of the 
school told me personally that the young 
man's class had the best record for at- 
tendance of any in the school. 

There came under my notice another 
good illustration of the attractiveness of 
the simple use of the Word in public 
teaching and testimony. A young doc- 
tor, graduate of one of the leading east- 
ern universities, a splendidly educated 
man, attractive in manner and appear- 
ance, took charge of a large class of 
young men. He brought to them many 
scientific facts of much interest and 
many new things in connection with the 
historical facts of the Bible, and alto- 
91 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

gether a mass of information quite re- 
markable. But somehow or other the 
class dwindled and fell away almost en- 
tirely. In discouragement he resigned. 
Those who remained were given into 
the hands of a young business man who 
had never had any special training other 
than a personal study of his Bible. And 
he began at once by throwing out all 
lesson leaves, providing each member of 
the Bible-class with a copy of the Eng- 
lish Bible, and teaching them the truth 
from a Bible standpoint. The result 
was, that in less than two months he 
had more than doubled the original 
attendance. 

Second, In personal Christian woi^k. 
This was our Lord's method with the in- 
quirer — Luke xxiv. 25, etc. It was evi- 
dently the method in the early church — 
92 



ITS USE 

Acts viii. 35, etc. It seems to be still a 
successful method, as illustrated by the 
experience of some of the most efficient 
workers. 

A business man who has been much 
used of God in winning young men to 
Christ, told me that there came into his 
office one day a young man in whom 
he was deeply interested because of a 
request from his mother to look after 
him spiritually. After transacting some 
business with the young man he opened 
up the matter of personal religion to 
him, and found him intrenched in his 
own morality and very self-satisfied. 
During his conversation with him he 
heard nothing but I — I — I — what he 
had done, how good he was, etc. He 
said, while he was talking with him, hke 
a flash there came into his mind this 
93 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

impression : '' Read to him the second 
chapter of Jonah/* He said : *' I thought 
there must be some mistake. That, cer- 
tainly, could not be appropriate in a case 
of this sort. But the impression was so 
strong that, going over to my desk, I 
took out a Bible and turned to this chap- 
ter and read it slowly; and the very 
condition of this young man seemed to 
be portrayed in the reading. As I came 
down to the closing verses of the chapter 
he stopped me and said : ' Wait a moment. 
You have simply been presenting a pic- 
ture of myself. And what I have been 
telling you about my condition is abso- 
lutely untrue. I am not what I have 
been pretending to be ; my life is all 
wrong. Pray for me.* So,** said he, 
" I had the joy of leading this young 
fellow to the feet of the Saviour.*' 
94 



ITS USE 

A friend of mine, a young man and a 
member of one of the leading churches 
in a western city, was led to see the 
value of this method in dealing with 
young men, and so he made up his 
mind that he would fit himself and use 
his Bible in winning men to Christ at 
the evening services of his church. The 
result was that in one winter he was 
privileged to lead over twenty-seven 
young men in that church to Christ. 
One of his experiences which he told 
me is very interesting, and illustrates 
how the Spirit of God will honor the 
use of his Word. Going into an after- 
meeting one night, he saw sitting on 
one of the front seats a grizzly-bearded, 
stern-faced old man. Taking his seat 
alongside of him, he said : '' My friend, 
I am glad to see you in this meeting. 
95 



THE JVORKER'S WEAPON 

I hope you are a Christian man.** When 
the old man turned on him he said some- 
thing hke this: '' Me a Christian? No, 
sir, I am not, and I don't expect I ever 
shall be.'* '^But," said my friend, ^'why 
not? '* And the old man replied : '' Be- 
cause my heart is so hard." Asking the 
Lord to direct him, he told me that there 
came into his mind at once Ezekiel ii. 
19. Turning to it he showed the old 
man how God would take the stony 
heart out of his flesh, and give him a 
heart of flesh. And in his conversa- 
tion with him he very soon had the joy 
of seeing tears of repentance coursing 
down his cheeks, and of having him 
accept Christ as his personal Saviour. 
Some time afterward my friend went to 
the south side of the city to look up 
this man. When he inquired as to his 
96 



ITS USE 

residence of a shopkeeper near by, he 
was told the number of the house, but 
the man added : '* Do you mean the old 
blacksmith? You had better not go 
there; he is one of the hardest men 
in this community, and he has been 
known to turn a great many persons 
very roughly away from his door. But 
they do say that the old man has got re- 
ligion, and that he is a changed man/' 
When my friend called upon him, he 
found it was a great delight to go into 
his home, and said while he was there 
the old man took down a Bible, asked 
him to read a few verses and lead in 
prayer, and then he himself followed in 
a simple, hearty petition that touched 
his heart. And so, indeed, the stony 
heart had been taken out, and a heart 
of love given to him in its place. The 
97 



THE IVORKER'S IVEAPON 

Holy Spirit will delight to honor the 
courageous, faithful use of his own 
weapon, the old sword. And it is true, 
as the writer of the Epistle to the He- 
brews tells us in chapter four, verses 
twelve and thirteen, that '' the Word of 
God is quick, and powerful, and sharper 
than any two-edged sword, piercing 
even to the dividing asunder of soul and 
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and 
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents 
of the heart. Neither is there any crea- 
ture that is not manifest in his sight : but 
all things are naked and opened unto the 
eyes of him with whom we have to do." 



98 



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